He said: “It was decent. I thought I hit the ball pretty well. Just the execution of some of my shots wasn’t perfect but that’s pretty normal.

"When you haven’t played a match in a while, and also very different conditions here, it’s quite a quick court, it took a little while to adjust to that. But I was pretty happy with the way I struck the ball for the most part. And just a few things that I can improve on.

“You need to play more matches. I was training in Miami and practicing on the same court and same conditions every day for three, four weeks and when you play in a different place where the court is a little faster and the ball was moving quicker through there, it changes the timing a little bit. It takes more than one practice to adjust to new conditions.”

Meanwhile Tipsarevic was thrilled to get a win over one of the top players in the world under his belt so early in the season.

The Serb said: “I feel great. It’s not every day that you have a chance to play a Grand Slam champion and an Olympic gold medalist. I know it’s an exhibition tournament but I promise you that the six of us are taking this competition very seriously, because these situations might happen very soon, even next week in Chennai, Doha or of course in the Australian Open.”

Tipsarevic, who has a 3-5 head-to-head record against Murray on tour, says he can tell that the Scot is riding high on confidence from his exploits last season and this victory has given the world No9 a boost ahead of the new season.

“I wasn’t expecting anything but I knew I could beat Andy, I’ve beaten him before. But again it’s an exhibition tournament, and if I can call him like that, he’s a totally different animal right now.

"He won a Grand Slam, he won Olympic gold, so he has a lot of confidence behind him from 2012. Beating him here in an exhibition match gives me small confidence for my next tournaments.”

RT @ReemAbulleil: @Rellimj Murray is playing an exo with Emirati players on Saturday. But the main tournament is over for him and Berdych

According to this Andy won't be leaving AD straight for Oz just yet. Shame.

Oh well, Andy knows his own body. Maybe it's better that he spends another two days here getting some more practice in, albeit not at the top level, instead of flying direct to Brisbane. He won't have to play there until Thursday, so if he thinks he can cope with the additional jet-lag by then, then that's fine by me.

I watched this match tonight live in Abu Dhabi. Andy might have lost and missed a few shots but he looks really imposing on court. The last time I saw Andy play live was in the finals in Dubai earlier this year - this afternoon/evening he just have this aura around him that I didn't notice in Dubai finals. He is more imposing and commands your attention on court, he has this air of confidence; straight back, head held high. He lost but even on his way out of the court, the way he carried himself - it was not the same Andy before the gold and US Open win. I really think he believes more in himself now and it translates into his body language. And I think that can only bode well to a successful 2013 (better than 2012).

I watched this match tonight live in Abu Dhabi. Andy might have lost and missed a few shots but he looks really imposing on court. The last time I saw Andy play live was in the finals in Dubai earlier this year - this afternoon/evening he just have this aura around him that I didn't notice in Dubai finals. He is more imposing and commands your attention on court, he has this air of confidence; straight back, head held high. He lost but even on his way out of the court, the way he carried himself - it was not the same Andy before the gold and US Open win. I really think he believes more in himself now and it translates into his body language. And I think that can only bode well to a successful 2013 (better than 2012).

You get a whole different feel when watching players live, so I find your comments very encouraging, although even on TV the change in Andy was evident.

Hey guys!Didn't get to watch the match today because I had to go and visit some ancient,and very deaf,great-aunts of mine-they're sweet ladies,but it was a loong day!

Shame Andy lost-it would have been nice to kickstart things with a win-but funnily enough,I'm not nearly as disappointed as I get normally when he loses.I don't know how energetic he looked on court,but looking at all the pictures of him since he arrived in Abu Dhabi,to me he looked absolutely shattered in most of them,and nearly asleep in some of them!So I wouldn't be surprised if simple tiredness played a big part in things today.I did think he might have been cutting things a bit fine,only arriving yesterday,in turns of turnaround time-but to my mind,it is SO much more important that he got to have christmas at home with his family,for the first time in 4 years,even if that might have factored into his losing today,than it would have been for him to miss out on that AGAIN,and win today,in what after all was only an exo.

My hopes are still undiminished for Australia in Jan.Onwards and upwards from here!

Hey guys!Didn't get to watch the match today because I had to go and visit some ancient,and very deaf,great-aunts of mine-they're sweet ladies,but it was a loong day!

Shame Andy lost-it would have been nice to kickstart things with a win-but funnily enough,I'm not nearly as disappointed as I get normally when he loses.I don't know how energetic he looked on court,but looking at all the pictures of him since he arrived in Abu Dhabi,to me he looked absolutely shattered in most of them,and nearly asleep in some of them!So I wouldn't be surprised if simple tiredness played a big part in things today.I did think he might have been cutting things a bit fine,only arriving yesterday,in turns of turnaround time-but to my mind,it is SO much more important that he got to have christmas at home with his family,for the first time in 4 years,even if that might have factored into his losing today,than it would have been for him to miss out on that AGAIN,and win today,in what after all was only an exo.

My hopes are still undiminished for Australia in Jan.Onwards and upwards from here!

Aww - I'm sure your great-aunts love you, but I can sympathise about the deafness!

I can assure you that Andy looked half-asleep on court as well at times! Definitely a bit out of it, and his tennis reflected that fact - too many UEs mixed in with occasional glimpses of Andy brilliance. Like you though I thought it was great he was able to spend Christmas with family and friends this year. This exho was nothing compared to that. I'm sure he'll be fine once he gets some decent sleep and his body-clock starts sorting itself out. So roll on, Oz!

Aww - I'm sure your great-aunts love you, but I can sympathise about the deafness!

I can assure you that Andy looked half-asleep on court as well at times! Definitely a bit out of it, and his tennis reflected that fact - too many UEs mixed in with occasional glimpses of Andy brilliance. Like you though I thought it was great he was able to spend Christmas with family and friends this year. This exho was nothing compared to that. I'm sure he'll be fine once he gets some decent sleep and his body-clock starts sorting itself out. So roll on, Oz!

Ah,thanks Aileen.They're nice ladies,and to be honest I'm not sure that they get a whole lot of visits from most of my other relations,so I don't begrudge them the time-but it was frustrating knowing Andy was playing again and I was missing it!And having to try to communicate did get a bit tiring!But it actually was quite a nice day,and it doesn't sound like I missed a huge amount anyway!

Oh dear-sounds like Andy was DEFINITELY feeling the tiredness then!Glad that there were flashes of brilliance though.Better for the loss to be here than in Brisbane anyway!And I really do believe that christmas with his loved ones will have done Andy a world of good.Let's hope he'll get some decent sleep,and is well-adjusted by the time Brisbane starts.

Teejay1, you are overreaction to what is a friendly discussion on here. We are airing our opinions and are not blowing things up out or proportion. IMO. There are no prophets of doom here today (that's not always the case, true). To quote yourselft "I hate to say I told you so", you're not saying that you have the facit answer to Andy's game/performance?